Turn your ideas into reality
creation brings joy <3
“Turn ideas into reality”, seems like an ambitious thing to say, but the process of creation is something that brings joy to a lot of people. I enjoy it.
Mischief Managed - what i built first
When I say creating something, it’s not limited to creating a product/software. Sometimes even designing a cover for your spotify playlist or just recreating a design you saw, or creating a reel can bring you enjoy. One thing that came to my mind was when I created a Harry Potter trivia (Mischief Managed) on Google Assistant, it was during the first year of my college. Some of you reading this have used it, comment below if you still remember it.
Creating Google Actions used to be popular at that time. It took me minimal coding effort to create it. It was more like a drag and drop and a few sets of questions and answers. Launched it and shared it with my friends and when they started using it and said it was cool or they liked it, it made me happy. Like, I don't know how to explain it, but it gave me a lot of happiness when people were using something that I have built. I event got a t-shirt from google, that was my first swag :)
Falling in love with process
Though I tried to build a lot of products after that I was not happy. Later I realized that, am stuck in creating the so-called portfolio worthy projects. I was not building something that I wanted to but what others said would look good on my resume. Don’t fall for that trap :(
There are a lot of other things I enjoyed building:
FOF globe - I wanted to visualize the Figma communities around the world in a different way
learning paths - a collection learning resources for Tinkerhub
kurious kathakal - my podcast
If you look at these examples, one is a software, second one is more/less a document and third one is a video, the only common factor is the process. These were all ideas in my head, I was curious to know how it shapes up, it may not look Looking back, now I know, it’s the process of turning my ideas into reality that gives me joy, not the results. Once you fall in love with the process, you will not be worried about the outcomes, that gives you the freedom to work on things you want.
kurious kathakal x buildspace
When the concept of ‘kurious kathakal’ came to mind, I was initially doubtful about pursuing it since it was far beyond of my comfort zone. I don’t even take selfies so starting a video podcast seemed daunting, but here’s what I did:
recorded a loom video of this idea, why I wanted to do it, and what it would look like, and sent it to 8 people (you can call it an MVP)
8/8 people said to pursue it, which helped me validate the idea
recorded the first episode and sent it to 5 people for feedback, based on the response, i realized it needed to be re-recorded
finally released my podcast publicly, the response I got was greater than I anticipated
Initially, I wanted to build this during the nights & weekends season 5 by buildspace. However, I couldn't wait for the season to start and pursued the idea earlier. I thought this would be a good time to introduce the program to my readers, as it kicks off today.
It's a free program where you can work on your ideas for the next six weeks. More specifically, you can pursue your passion. Your idea could be anything: writing a book, creating an Iron Man suit, building your portfolio, releasing your first music single, or creating a short film. No one will judge your ideas; all are welcome. It's rare to see this in programs
nights & weekends
The most interesting part is how they have created an abstract process to get started and gain momentum on your ideas in simple steps while building in public. The general structure looks like:
week 1 → idea
overcome the stigma of gatekeeping your ideas and start building in public
week 2 → version one of your idea
break the stigma of launching only the perfect final version, start from the toy version
week 3 → feedback
gather feedback on your version one, connect with the users
week 4 → iterate + feedback
iterate based on feedback and relaunch
week 5 → users + growth
get people to care about your idea and gain users
week 6 → demo day
Though it sounds simple, it will help you bust a lot of myths when it comes to working on your ideas, more importantly, it can prevent you from remaining idle with your ideas and encourage you to launch them.Once you get the hang of the process, it will help you in the long term. Though I was not able to complete season 4, the things I learned during the process helped me launch my podcast successfully.
This would be good opportunity to work on the ideas you always wanted to work on. Seems interesting, if you want to join the program I have got 5 buddy passes, you can use it to be accepted instantly to the program.
why i love buildspace?
Most maker/builder communities are exclusively for product creators, and these builders sometimes look down on others. In these communities nobody gives a f**k about you until you have built something noticeable, leaving those just starting out feeling overlooked. buildspace is the only place or community where I have seen a person who creates a product, a person who creates music, a person who creates a art is treated with equal respect. They give respect to the process of creation and for the continuous effort that they put in for their craft.
kurious kathakal: next?
I am recording a podcast with my friend Laya this week, she is an HR at Amazon. If you have any questions that you have always wanted to ask an HR let me know in the comments, I will try to get it answered during the podcast.
If you decide to signup for nights & weekends let me know, I would be happy to know that my newsletter gave you that boost your ideas.
see you in your inbox next time:)